Sugar tops UK food concerns

By Niamh Michail

- Last updated on GMT

Women are more likely than men to have concerns over food safety and food issues in general, says the report.
Women are more likely than men to have concerns over food safety and food issues in general, says the report.

Related tags Food standards agency Food Food safety

The amount of sugar in food is the top food concern for UK consumers, according to a Food Standards Agency survey.

Over half (52%) of the 2,640 respondents who took part in the survey said that they were worried about the amount of sugar in food, followed by  49% who were concerned about food waste and 47% over the amount of salt in food.

“Overall findings from this [survey] are fairly consistent with previous ones. The main food safety and nutrition issues of concern have remained largely unchanged. Spontaneous concerns about fat, sugar and salt remain high with sugar continuing to be the greatest of these concerns,” ​the report said.

“Looking at wider issues of concern, food prices has declined to the extent that it is not the highest reported area of spontaneous or overall concern for the first time.”

Meanwhile over a quarter (29%) were worried about the use of additives in food products, up from 26% in 2013.

The survey found that women are more likely to be worried about food safety issues and food issues in general than men. Over a third of female respondents said they were concerned about the use of additives in food compared with only one quarter of their male counterparts, while 34% of women said they were worried about the presence of pesticides in food for 25% of men.

Older consumers, aged from 50 to 65, were also more likely to report being concern about food safety issues, while rural respondents were more distrustful of food labels than urban respondents, the report said.

Animal welfare was more important for households without children while parents said that food prices were of greater concern.

The full report can be read here​.

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